Women's Movements in Contemporary Pakistan

WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS IN CONTEMPORARY PAKISTAN:

RESULTS AND PROSPECTS

by

Shahnaz J. Rouse University of Wisconsin

WorKing Paper i#74 December 1984

Abstract: Women's rights have come under attack in many Muslim countries, particularly those where the state relies for support on fundamentalist religious elements amoug the clergy. The response of women to such attacks and their capacity to defend themselves is determined by the nature and level of women's organizations that exist within a particular social formation. In this article, the author examines the particularity of one specific case: that of Pakistan. The antecedents of women's mobilization and the transformation of their organizations over time are traced through their interface with political trends in the country. Particular attention is given to a new women's organization, the Women's Action Forum. About the Author: Shaiiaz J. Rouse is currently affiliated with the Land Tenure Center, UW-Madison. Her major research interest include development with an emphasis on rural transformaticn in South Asia and the Middle East. She has written extensively on capital penetration in agriculture and class differentiation, wom2n's rights in the Muslim world, and economic growth and social justice. WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS IN CONTEMPORARY PAKISTAN: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS ]

Social movements in most parts of the world are closely linked to relations of domindtion, exploitation, oppression, and repression. They may be the reflection of actual conditions, in the sense of an objective worsening of living conditions, or they may be a consequence of a perceived sense cf deprivation. In the second sense, social movements may be the outcome not of worsened sets of circumstances but of a change in people's consciousness regarding their condition. The struggle that women are currently waging in Pakistan reflects both these elements. Not only has the situation of women worsened since the current military regime came into power in 1977, but Pakistani women, by virtue of increasing access to education, involvement in professional employment, and a multiplicity of other factors, are more conscious of their condition today than ever before.

Much of the literature on women states that women are tile victims of the double oppression of class and gender. This is as true in Pakistan as elsewhere. What this means in the Pakistani context is that not only have women had to struggle to win concessions from a male-dominated society, but they have also had a hard time maintaining themselves and their families given a socio-economic milieu in which tile vast majority of he populace is victimized by social, political and economic deprivation. Women in Pakistan are the victims of various types of repression and oppression. Women as well as men suffer from being part of a socio-economic framework dominated by international capital in which their contributions and status are often determined by forces external to themselves. Within this framework, however, women are further oppressed because they belong to tile gender that is seen as necessary for maintenance of the system but is relatively unrecognized and poorly rewarded for its contribution to that maintenance. Women are victimized not only by the economic system but also by the dominant social relations within it.

This is not to suggest that class and gender are the only factors responsible for women's situation in Pakistan today. The world is much more complex than that, and Pakistani society is no exception. Additional significant factors that affect the conditiors of Pakistani women are those of religion, kinship, nationality (ethnicity), and access to education. Religion in Pakistan means the Islamic tradition as it is expressed in 2 Pakistani society. And that expression is male oriented, tending towards segregating women and confining them to the house. As such, religion (not in the abstract but as it is concretely manifested in the state ideology in Pakistan) relates directly to the gender question.

Kinship groupings in Pakistan are much more rigid in the rural than in the urban areas. In rural areas they affect the division of labor and access to property. Basic divisions in kinship groupings in the settled areas are among agriculturalists, non-agriculturalists (petty commodity producers), and the landless (wage laborers). In the tribal areas, too, tribal divisions are on a territorial basis and, within the tribe itself, status is determi.iea by whether one is a surplus pronucer or appropriator. When seen in tne context of their relation qith property, territory, surplus -2­

generation or appropriation, kinship affiliations closely intersect with class interests. With increasing class differentiation by the transformation being brought about of the Pakistani economy, changes in kinship location are occu'-ing; for example, agriculturalists are being pushed down into same class as non-agriculturalists the and wage workers. But the dissonance this creates in terms of kinship relations is temporary. In a few generations, for all practical purposes, people iose their membership in previous kinship network the and are assigned to the appropriate economic class. Kinship and caste in Pakistani society do not have implications they the same might have in Indian society for example. Kinship caste are factors, and but I would argue that they are usually not articulated apart from the class question. The nationality or ethnicity question is a complex one but within each nationality or ethnic group women do suffer repression because they are woen; their gender oppression still holds. In addition to discriminated against being as women, they also suffer from a form of "internal colonialism" which precludes their access to education, health and other facilities. What they .experience is more complex than double oppression. As we look at access to education, we must understand and that it incorporates acknowledge all of the above elements, but not in a mechanical fashion. Upper-class women obviously have a better chance of getting education, but this an is further affected by their incorporation into urban or rural bourgeoisie. the Rural landed families tend not to educate their women. Because of the lack of adequate education facilities in the minority provinces, all classes suffer, but again the deprivation is much greater women from for the working cldsses than for those from the bourgeoisie. The argument here is that the factors of kinship, nationality (ethnicity) and access to education can better be understood in a class framework. Kinship, as we have noted, is dependent on land relations and is, therefore, closely related to the class question. Oppression of nationality or ethnic groups, too, is a function of the nature classes that of the dominate the state structure and direct development that deprive certain in ways minorities of their rights. What I am suggesting, therefore, is that at the existential level all these factors do come into play, but at the level of explanation, one must again come back to the question of class, its arLiculation with the state, and the subsequent nature of societal development. Let us for a momeot, then, return to class and gender. And within let us locate the nature this of women's oppression in the Pakistani context. 3 In Third World Countries, which suffer from a distorted form of development termed by some "The Colonial Mode of Production" the informal sector of the economy is particularly strong. The formal sector consists industrial sector; of thp the informal sector includes agriculture, small production, handicrafts, scale the domestic sector, and household production. Women are mainly employed in this informal sector and, since this is the sector that is hardest hit by capitalist development, women in turn are the worst affected group. -3-

Women are first affected at the level of the family structure. kinship Since relations are based on property relations, articulated patriarchal, within a patrilocal family structure, women's choices in decisions to work marriage and are often made for them. Religion provides ideological SLpport for this type of family structure and becomes a further factor limiting women's freedom in decisions that affect their existence. Neither of these factors is static; they are changing but they still play repressive role vis-a-vis a women. The family itself has remained a strongly male-dominated institution in Pakistani society. Even where kinship factors, for example, have changed as they have in the cities, the changes are not necessarily positive for women. Families may no longer feel it is essential for women to marry within their own kinship group; they can be betrothed to somebody from another group, but the decision still is made by the families. At best, the prospective husband may have some say in the matter, but the woman is more often than not a passive recipient of familial wisdom. RATIONALE FOR EXAMINING THE WOMEN'S QUESTION IN MODERN PAKISTAN Pakistan -today is a country engulfea by a wave of repression--engulfed not by external forces but by its own armed forces. This oppression is not limited to any one class or gender. Why then, onc might ask, write on this issue of a women's movement Pakistan at a time when in the democratic rights of the entire population have been suppressed by a highly unpopular military regime which has no support among Pakistanis aside from conservative religious elements and a handful of industrialists and large 4 landlords? The reasons are three. First, given the evaluation in the previous section of women's continued exploitation and deprivation, an analysis of their own efforts to combat this constitutes a meaningful exercise under any circumstances. Second, precisely because the present regime in Pakistan relies on religious elements, the issue of women becomes even more critical today. These fundamentalist religious groups, while ambivalent on other issues (e.g., the relationship of labor and capital, agrarian taxation and property to name but a few) are agreement in total when it comes to the question of women. Their position they believe that women is clear: are inferior to men and that their place is in the home serving their male lords and masters. Third, women, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, are organizing an independent, mass movement to fight not just for the preservation of those rights currently under attack but also for a deepening and extension of those rights. They are among the vanguard of the political movement in Pakistan and, in that sense, need to be taken very seriously indeed. All political parties, with the exception of Jammiat-connected ones, are banned from holding public meetings. The left, which was fractious to begin with, has lost ground as its leaders and most active cadres have sought exile, been imprisoned, killed, or gone underground. This has meant that, until the launching of the August 1983 movement, the only organized groups publicly taking a stand against the regime had been professional groups, e.g., lawyers, journalists and students. -4­

Women's organizations moved into the vacuum created traditional by the absence of political formations. Basing their work on organization class across lines, they challenged the regime publicly through meetings, press campaigns, forums, mass petitions and demonstrations. Women were the first to realize the importance of direct action during this period acted upon that and realization at a time when the left was saying conditions were not conducive to such action. Being independent political and part of no party, women, in the current phase of their struggle, able to speak have been out on specifically women's issues but have consciously to link them to sought broader issues of economic privilege and deprivation, inflation, exploitation and injustice. Maintaining their relative autonomy from other groups and parties, they insist that they are merely striving towards i!hat is agreed upon in the Human Rights Charter of the United Nations, a body of which Pakistan is a member. The focus or women's issues and rights has not kept women supporting other from progressive causes, e.g., the Palestinian movement, release of political prisoners, the help for the drought-stricken people of the Thar desert, and restoration of democratic .rights. In other words, the struggle of women in Pakistan, as it is currently being articulated, does not designate man as the enemy but rather a social-structural formation within which women are among the most oppressed, but by no means the only, victims of repression.

This article examines, first, the measures taken Haq's against women by Zia ul military regime. It then traces the origin and development mobilization of women's and organization in Pakistan and places developments the current within the context of events occuring in Pakistan coup against since the Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto's regime. Women's current and organizational mobilization expression is then critiqued in terms of its strengths and weaknesses and future courses of action are noted. This last section points out the various possibilities stemming from the character of women's mobilization and its organizational expression as it articuldtes with other groups and interacts with 5 the state. The future of women is by no means viewed linearly, nor is the organizational form through which their struggle will continue. Lastly, certain theoretical conclusions and practical questions that stem out of this entire analysis are posed. THE CURRENT MILITARY REGIME'S RECORD ON WOMEN (1977 TO DATE) Since the Pakistani government proclaimed its intent to institute "Nizam e Mustafa"6 women have been one of the key groups tars eted by the regime. Most recently, in March 1983, the Majlis e Shooral passed a "Law Evidence" whereby the of status of a woman is reduced to that of half a man terms of her ability in to bear witness in court. In cases of rape, a woman's testimony is to be considered 8 inadmissible, and the murder of a woman should not warrant the same penalty as a similar crime against a man. This degradation of woman to the status of half a being, non-being, is the or even a culmination of a series of attacks on half the population -5­

of Pakistan. Prior to this, the government issued other proclamations banning the participation of women athletes in international and mixed sports events, attempted to repeal the 1961 Family Laws Ordinance which gave a modicum of security to women with regard to their marital status property rights, and announced its intention to eliminate coeducation and institute separate universities for women with sep" rate subjects and clearly a much reduced budget and consequent lowered standard of education. latter proposal This is designed to eventually drive women out of the professions and back 9 into the home. What the regime did not itself proclaim, tried to sound it out through its surrogates, the ultra-conservative religious leaders. 10

The last two years have seon the emergence in the mosques and media (television in the in particular) of mullahs speaking against women and proclaiming the wonders of the Iranian model, particularly with its position respect to on women. This is exemplified by the "chador aur char davari" controversy 1 generated by Israr Ahmed and the othFrs. Israr in particular was the spokesperson par excellence for the idea that a woman's place is to serve and titillate the male of the house. She is designed be an object to of pleasure for her' spouse as well as a beast of burden entirely depcndent upon him. Israr preached this philosophy both from the mosques and through the government sponsored and controlled television. None of these incursions on their already limited freedoms were taken lightly by Pakistani women; they have responded with anger, vigour and initiative. Befcre we examine what form this response has taken in the current period, let us examine the historical development of women's struggle in Pakistan.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF WOMEN'S MOBILIZATION IN PAKISTAN (1940-77) The mobilization of women in Pakistan can be traced to the preindependence period when women, albeit bourgeois women, element were a vocal in the anti-colonial struggle, as well as in the movement. 12 Pakistan Their efforts led to a recognition of their contribution the Quaid by e Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who made a strong plea removal for the of constraints against women. As early as 1944 he stated: 13 No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women live. You should take your women along with you as comrades in every sphere of life. Viewing the independent state of Pakistan as essentially a state, Jinnah secular said that women had claims to the same rights as did minorities, nationalities any (ethnic groups), or other oppressed groups within the limitations of a liberal, bourgeois-democratic state. It is interesting to note that even at this stage some mullahs, for example, Maudoodi, founder -6­

of the Jammiat i Islami, not only opposed the rights of women, but were also opposed to the creation of a Pakistan that took its being on the the Muslims of India around that had the right to a separate homeland.1 4 Voicing their opposition to the creation of Pakistan, they called Jinnah "kafir" (unbeliever) for working for the creation of Pakistan. Following the creations of Pakistan, of which many mullahs such as Maudoodi were now citizens and residents, the women who had been active previously decided to push their efforts further and concretize some of their demands through the legal code. Women gained the right to vote 15 and, following a long struggle which became articulated with the coming to power of a modernizing, reformist military regime, in 1961 women finally succeeded in getting passed the now much attacked Family Laws Ordinance. In this ordinance women were officially recognized as being able to inherit agricultural property (in consonance with Islamic Law); second marriages were made contingent upon agreement by the first wife; divorce was made more difficult for the male and the woman was given the right to initiate divorce for the first time (on certain specified grounds only); and a system of registration of marriages was introduced for the first time. These are but a few of the ordinance's better-known clauses. Although it has never been adequately implemented, this ordinance nonetheless considered was a major victory by women's groups. Why is this so? Partly because it contains a recognition by the state of the need for reforms to better the status and condition of women, but an understanding of the nature of the women's organizations extant at that time will help us to better answer this question.

As stated earlier, women's mobilization at Pakistan's inception was limited mostly to bourgeois elements. Having received some education relative to their counterparts in other classes and being part of the political mainstream, often by being related to men who were in politics, these women were cognizant of the law and able to manipulate it to their advantage. The family law safeguarded their rights as women. But the Family Law Ordinance did not penetrate very far. Working-class women in the urban areas were only marginally able to benefit from it to the extent they either had that patrons among the bourgeois elements or some progressive organization was willing to take up the fight on their behalf. The lot of the rural women, isolated as they were from the political scene and center of organizational the activity, continued much as before. Tribal were in a similar aomen position; neither women's organizations for other progressive forces interested in women's issues were able to penetrate these areas.

The women's organizations existing at that time, the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA) being the best known among these, were primarily social welfare and charity organizations and the nature of their work reflected this. In addition to providing relief during emerliencies and taking care of the destitute and orphans, they placed a strong emphasis on education, but took a limited approach to its provision, restricting it to -7­

the creation of APWA college in Lahore and the setting up of a few vocational training and handicraft centers. Their attitude was patronizing; their approach was basically reformist; and their reach was limited. They did not see anything fundamentally wrong with either the socio-economic system or the political structure. Reforms, therefore, were not posed in terms of the self-realization of women but merely in terms of an improvement in their conditions.

The coming to power of Bhutto in 1972 saw the emergence in Pakistan, for the first time, of a popularly elected, Dopulist regime that drew support from workers, the rural peasantry, and women. The 1973 Constitution qranted women rights more in accord with United Nations-stated principles (modified to fit Pakistani reality) along with a promise to extend educati3n on a mass scale to all groups, including rural and urban women. 15

Women's groups, though they increased during this period, remained in the background in that they did not perceive themselves as being under attack from Bhutto's regime. They chose, therefore, to exploit the favorable environment to push for an extension of women's rights within the framework of the state, not in antagonism to it. An exception was the role played by women In the 1977 campaign against Bhutto, a role quite similar to that of Chilean women in their "pots and oans campaign" against Allende prior to the latter's downfall. In Pakistan, too, bourgeois women led this movement, not protesting the abrogation of democratic rights by the Bhutto regime (a criticism that the left groups and national minorities levied against him), but mounting a right-wing opposition to his regime, decrying his economic policies and their inflationary impact of their dwindling purse sizes.17

Not until three and a half years after the 1977 military take-over were women once again Lo emerge as a political force. This time, however, the organizations that came into being, although having a historical colntinuity with the past and the nature of the struggle women were waging, are qualitatively different. The nature and scope of their activities is far different from what it was previously as is their interpretation of what needs to be done, the internal composition of different groups involved in the struggle, and the process through which they see positive change as emerging.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE WOMEN'S STRUGGLE AND CREATION OF THE WOMEN'S ACTION FORUM

The late sixties and early seventies saw a small but significant blossoming cf intellectual thought and grass roots political organization. Women in larger numbers joined the professions and, though their numbers remdined relatively small, they made a significant contribution. Television in particular broke the taboos generally connected with music and the arts in Pakistani society. College women with creative talents took advantage of this opportunity and became instrumental in portraying a different woman. Indeed a recognition of the media's transformational capacity may lie behind the current regime's attempts to drastically alter both its programming and personnel. The mushrooming of left wing political parties in the late -8­

sixties and early seventies, tied as they were to the working class and peasantry, drew the into the political arena women who had been previously dissociated from this process. Not only did this serve to politicize more women than ever before but it also gave women much needed organizational experience.18

These experiences served women in several ways. They of the brought women out home in increasing numbers. They created institutions organizations and which, though limited, were lasting. And they experience in running gave women their own programs. Experience with the left led many women to recognize that they themselves must wage their struggle and that there was no objective need for an independent, autonomcus women's organization. Undoubtedly, increasing education and exposure to feminist movements in other parts of the world, as well as awareness of women's involvement in national liberation movements elsewhere, served to reinforce this awareness. It was, however, the attacks upon women by the current military regime that caused this awareness to mature and take an organizational form. The Women's Action Forum (WAF), a mass-based, popular front women's groups of many and of concerned individuals was formed in September 1981.19 The specific issue that brought about the formation of WAF was zina (adultery) a case, whereby a fifteen-year-old woman was sentenced fo-gging by the to military's courts because she married a man of a working­ class background against her parents' wishes. The fact that this new women's organization, WAF, emerged in response to such a case, illustrative of how different is itself it was from previous women's organizations and from political parties with women's committees.

Previous women's organizations had not challenged the basic family about marriage and norms choice in marriage. They had merely sought to secure some rights for women within marriage and to secure access for women to some of the benefits of development. Left groups, similarly, had not fought for women's rights as women but merely as members of the work force. For left groups, the the issue of women was relegated to a secondary status, labor relation the being the dominant theme. Even within this, contribution women's in the work force as unpaid workers often went unquestioned. This zina case upon which WAF came into existence combined issues of class and gender. Social morality (with respect to marital decision making) class discrimination and (the economic background of the person one chooses marry) were both involved. to Drawing upon this multiple repression that lies deeply rooted in the traditional social customs of Pakistani society, WAF was immediately in direct confrontation with what for centuries has been held to be sacred on the Indian sub-continent. By taking up such a case, it was also able to generate support for women's rights from women just one class. of more than This case came shortly after reports about women professors being molested and removed from their positions and about women being tortured for their political beliefs and affiliations, the imposition restrictions against of the professional activities of women, and the imposition of dress code requirements for women public employees so the WAF -9­

felt that action was imperative. It also recognized that help could not be expected from either the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) or the left since these groups were themselves fighting to survive and neither had in the past taken an active stand in the nationally-organized drive to push for women's rights. Women recognized that this was a fight that they must themselves lead--that the need was to educate each other and fight for their rights not only in response to the current measures taken against them by the military regime but also to overcome inequalities that were rooted in the cultural milieu. This represented a major breakthrough in the struggle for women in Pakistan.

Created initially by professional, middle-class women in Karachi in September of 1981, WAF immediately received the endorsement of seven women's groups. These groups, while maintaining their independent existence,20 decided to rally under WAF's banner in a popular women's front dedicated to one common goal: women's developmern through the achievement of basic human rights for all Pakistani women. These rights include: employment; physical security; marital choice; planned parenthood; and non-discrimination.

Recognizing the enormity of the task confronting them, the organizers of WAF proceeded cautiously. Initally, they devoted their attention to fighting to preserve rights under attack from the military. Given their limited numbers at this point, a lobbying-cum-pressure group approach was used. The first task undertaken was a national signature campaign based on five issues affecting women. Over seven thousand signatures were collected between October and December, 1981, and the document was presented to the Chief Martial Law Administ; tor, Zia ul Haq.

Even at the inception of WAF, the organizers realized that the state was unlikely to concede other than token demands if they limited their activities to submitting petitions; they, therefore, decided to broaden WAF's base. Towards this end, in Januav'y, 1982, the Karachi chapter of WAF organized a two-day symposium on "Human Rights and Pakistani Women" with simultaneous workshops on education, law, consciousness raising and health. This was the first of a series of symposiums and workshops held on a wide variety of topics of interest to women; they were conducted in English and Urdu, as well as the regional languages. By virtue of incorporating other organizations in a collaborative front WAF was quickly able to draw such working-class women as were connected to the earlier groups into its fold. WAF also attempted to reach these groups as well as national minorities independently; this was particularly emphasized in Karachi where some of the initiators of the organization themselves belonged to the Sindhi national minority.

Not only did WAF strive to bring the question of women's oppression to women from varied backgrounds, it also immediately began to extend the organization's reach to other parts of the country. The second chapter of WAF was created in Lahore in October, 1981. Chapters soon followed in other cities including Islamabad, Peshawar, Bahawalpur, Lyallpur, and Quetta. It was made clear that anybody could initiate a WAF chapter in her locality, -10­

provided the chapter was willing to adopt the charter drawn up by the Karachi chapter. Each new chapter would, however, be subject to scrutiny by the two oldest chapters, i.e., Karachi and Lahore. If there is any discrepancy between the activities of the local chapter and WAF's charter, that chapter is subject to expulsion. WAF's chapters are encouraged to incorporate women's groups and organizations in their areas with a view to maximizing outreach and propaganda, avoiding duplication, and facilitating coordination. Because it is open to women from all classes, WAF recognizes the centrality of gender the quc:tion as key determinant in a popular front for women. WAF was originally organized as a democratic organization with no formal membership and with links to no political parties. Since however, its inception, formal membership has been raised as an issue. In a resolution this of question different chapters decided to go different ways organizational in terms of structure. Initially the organizational structure non-hierarchical was and non-bureaucratic but differences now exist; each of three main the chapters in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad has arrived different at resolutions. Despite these differences in organizational expression, the democratic nature of the organization holds. At no did WAF point Karachi try to impose a structure on any of its chapters. policy Their was to let each chapter decide what suited its needs best. The national structure still remains true to its original form; there no president or is secretary at the national level, and decisions are arrived at through discussion. Each chapter designates one member as a represen­ tative to a joint session of all chapters. With these new developments, the struggle for women's rights has come far from its origins. WAF expression as one of that dynamic gives us an important yardstick against measure which to the changes that have occurred. In terms of its organizational structure, membership, program, WAF represents a radical departure from previous attempts at women's mobilization in Pakistan. WOMEN'S STRUGGLE IN ITS CURRENT PHASE: ACHIEVEMENTS AND LIMITATIONS What does all this amount to? What has this re-vitalized, re-defined womenis movement, spearheaded by WAF but by no means limited to it, accomplished? Where is it headed? There is no simple answer: The accomplishments are both the tangible and intangible, and the goals both short term and long term. In its battle with the regime, current women's movement in seems on the Pakistan surface to have lost more often than it has won. In February, 1983, two hundred women demonstrated in Lahore against the proposed changes in the Law of Evidence. At least twenty of the participants were injured in their clash with the police and another thirty were arrested. Despite this demonstration and the support of some men, the proposed changes were passed through the Majlis e Shoora less than a month later. It should, however, be -11­

noted that Zia ul Haq has still not signed the proposed legal changes, and his reluctance to do so might partially be because of the opposition women have been able to generate.

Women were also unsuccessful in their attempt to pressure the regime into sending women athletes to international sports events in 1982 (specifically the Asian Games). The move to institute separate universities for women and the dismantling of the Family Laws Ordinance of 1961 have both been shelved temporarily, but it is expected that the regime will re-open both these matters at a later date and that the proposed changes will be ones opposed both by WAF and by most other organized and mobilized women. The one victory WAF and women have had is in their confrontation with the regime in the removal of Israr Ahmed from television. But to draw up a scoreboard saying "regime's wins, women's losses" is a limited way of viewing the whole matter. The gains of women, although in many instances intangible are fairly substantial. Women have for the first time adopted an organizational stance as an autonomous, non-sectarian, independent women's group (i.e., WAF) making them an important force that any political group in Pakistan will have to contend with. They have broken out of the old pattern of reformism and paternalism that has characterised the Pakistani political scene and have initiated educational, organizational, and informational work that will leave a mark on the future regardless of whether WAF survives as an organization. Initially restricted to limited issues and conscious of the need not to outstrip its base, WAF, as the key expression of the women's struggle under the military regime, has steadily been broadening and deepening that base. In doing so, it has been conscious that it is not sufficient to merely critique the regime on the grounds it sets. WAF must also confront issues that immediately touch the lives of the average Pakistani woman who is not concerned with universities, whether separate or coeducational, or with women's involvement in sports events, to cite but two examples. Toward this end, WAF has initiated discussions on topics of more immediate concerns, for example, child labor, growing narcotics use, rape, and the suppression of women, all of which are issues affecting the working-class woman directly. WAF has initiated serious research on the status and condition of women in Pakistan to concretize its work and position. Through its membership and associates, WAF has kept in the public forefront the opposition to the current regime. It has blitzed the media with articles, comments, inquiries, and and, in so doing, has recruited more and more women in its ranks, and has gained increasing support among men. This gain of support among men reflects WAF's ability not only to make the women's issue central, but also its capacity to relate women's issues to other progressive causes. WAF has paved the way towards non-sectarianism and shown that, despite the current environment of repression, mass organizing is not only possible but necessary. Unlike the bourgeois political parties, WAF, as the leading expression of the women's struggle for democratic and human rights, has not maintained a highly skewed organizational structure. Learning from its experiences with left groups WAF leaders have recognized the need to proceed -12­

step-by-step, with a clear overall picture in mind. The task of organizing women is much more difficult than that of organizing either workers or peasants. A struggle must be waged not only against economic forces but also against the social taboos that directly affect women's lives. In seeing the need for a mass organization, WAF considered not only the question that had to be addressed but also the lessons of the past. Previous groups had too often isolated themselves from the bulk population by of the taking very rigid positions. This rigidity often from a realistic appraisal resulted not of the situation but from a lack of clarity it. Such rigidity about often led to personal squabbles, factionalism, stagnation of the organization. and The growth of the Women's Action Forum and the women's movement as a whole must be viewed dialectically. The elements that constitute its strengths may also be possible contributors to its limitations. We have earlier noted the mass character of the draws women's movement which women from all classes although it is still dominated educated, by professional, urban women. This has been an integral movement part of the women's in its current phase although there is not always the women agreement between who belong to the older women's groups (which upper-class have a stronger bias) and WAF members who have just entered current the political or have had previous experience with left groups. to view The latter tend issues along class and national lines and, although gender question aware that the is a critical one, their approach towards gender discrimination resolution of extends far beyond that of previous groups. these variuus Although elements have worked well together, it is possible may be that there disagreement when and if the more radical elements changes begin to push for that are both class and gender based and as means the formal are sought outside structures. It is important to note that this is not type of division seen as immediate but is merely noted as a possibility.

Given the diversity of classes and groups represented the different WAF chapters in the movement, are very uneven in their membership composition, and this unevenness is reflected in their work. The Lahore chapter is most advanced politically the and has, in some instances, shown itself willing to undertake actions that other chapters might retreat from. demonstration in February The was organized by this group. There are indications, however, that other chapters are quick to learn; since February demonstrations have been organized in Karachi as well as in other cities. The decision-making structure is also subject to modification. the unevenness of the chapters, Given there has been some concern among the more advanced segments in WAF that some political parties and their represen­ tatives might attempt to push the movement into a more conventional political direction where women's issues are again made secondary to issues. There is, similarly, other a concern that certain individuals in certain chapters might derail the movement by pushing for a more conformist, collaborative approach. Attempts to prevent either of these possibilities from becoming two a reality have been tried by various chapters; the balance between democracy and centralism is a tricky one. Recent -13­

discussions on this matter resulted in the resolution of the matter in the case of the Islamabad chapter, whereas it resulted in a split in the organization in the case of the Lahore chapter.

Although this organizational restructuring has created some divisiveness and hard feeling in WAF itself, it has not had a negative impact on the womenis movement as a whole. The various factions have continued to work together on issues of common concern.

What this unevenness and class heterogeneity suggests is that once the regime begins to take a more antagonistic stand towards WAF in particular and the movement in general, there is a possibility that the more uncertain elements might fall away and choose to leave the struggle rather than engage in confrontational activities. The extent of this falling away is impossible to predict since a large faction of tile women currently agitating for women's rights has had no previous political experience. There is no doubt, however, that some of the women with close ties to the bureaucratic elements and who have more at stake in the system will leave. Its urban character also means that WAF and the women's movement as a whole still have not been able to reach rural women who constitute the one of most oppressed elements of the Pakistani population. This is a short coming that will only be rectified as the struggle expands and deliberate attempts are made to spread out into the c6untryside. Some work has already been done by left parties in this context, particularly in Sindh. Given the nature of popular struggles in Pakistan, which have always had their inception in the cities, this bias, at least in the initial phase, is to be expected. Also, given the linkages between the workers in the urban centers and their rural counterparts, it is expected that working-class women become more and more integrated into the struggle, this link will be made organically.

Inherent in the women's movement, as in other progressive formations previously existing in Pakistan, is a tendency towards tailism (used here not to signify lagging behind the popular will to struggle but in the sense of following the direction set by the state). Tile women's movement, too, could become entrapped by this tendency. Tile more advanced elements in the women's movement seem to be cognizant of this possibility, but the newer recruits are so tied into day-to-day reactions to the military's policies that the wider issues and needs might be lost sight of. By letting the regime set the agenda, they could permit the forward motion to be determined by the state and not by their own definition of what needs to be done. It is necessary to respond to the day-to-day attacks on women's rights by the state, but it is critical not to let this sap all the energy. It should also be kept in mind that many of these legally won rights mean very little in the reality of the majority of Pakistani women's lives. Transforming the reality of these women's lives demands educational and informational work rooted in an autonomous women's organization or organizations. WAF is, to some extent, trying to respond to these needs by setting up legal, publicity -14­

and research cells whose work will provide not only information but also infrastructural the back-up needed if this information is to mean anything in concrete terms. Certain chapters of WAF have stressed the non-political character their organization. of This assertion, combined with the fact that the wives of many prominent bureaucrats and upper-class males are active in its has contributed ranks, to the tendency of the regime to allow WAF's contin)ued existence in public. There are, however, indications that this existence. is a fragile The demonstrations in February and September of 1931 were brutally both attacked by police, indicating that the regime is becoming uncomfortable with the women's movement and beginning to see it as a threat. This is unavoidable if the women's movement is to continue to be dynamic. What this means, therefore, is that the movement must connect either with the wider movement for the restoration of democratic rights the people of as a whole or suffer repeated setbacks. To expect a regime suppresses that the rights of the bulk of the population, e.g., workers, peasants, minority groups, national minorities, to grant them to be ridiculous. women would As soon as WAF sheds its non-political stance, there every chance is that the regime will ban it from meeting publicly and legally.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS The previous section has considered to some extent the future of the women's movement in Pakistan. It remains here to emphasize some of the salient points. A critical factor is the manner in which the women's movement is able to: 1) understand the contradictions of the state manipulate and these to its own advantage; and 2) integrate the question women's rights of into the broader political question of domination and suppression of the oppressed classes in Pakistan as a whole. In order to do the latter, the women's movement must make a conscious attempt to keep from slipping into an elitist position as did earlier women's groups. To keep the movement limited to the question of formal legal rights is to fall into the trap of letting the state and the bourgeois elements in the movement determine its tenor. Even if these rights were to be granted they would mean very little in transforming the reality of most Pakistani women's lives. To achieve real change, therefore, formalism must be shed, and this can only be done if the agenda is set by those elements within the movement that understand the nature and dynamics of class, national, and gender oppression as a whole,

CONCLUSION: FHEORETICAL QUESTIOIS AND CONCRETE IMPLICATIONS The discussion of women's struggles in Pakistan, as elsewhere, immediately raises the auestion of the commonality between class and gender anu the distance between them. Many Marxists claim that the primary contradiction is between classes and that, once the ownership of the means of production is transformed, we can move on to other issues such as that of women's oppression. -15-

Such a dichotomization of various types of oppression is wholly unsatisfactory. As we rioted in the beginning of this paper, many types of oppression that are concretely rooted in the day-to-day existence of peoples in Pakistan (as in many other parts of the Third World) deal with issues of kinship, nationality, etc. At one level of explanation, economic and class relations may be dorninant, but this remains just one level. If we under­ stand that women's oppression is no simple reflection of their class oppression (although this plays a critical role in reinforcing their repression), then it bec.'mes imperative to insist that pro.gressive elements be able to integrate a struggle against all these formis of oppression simultaneously. If this is not done, conservative political elements will be able to manipulate these differences to their own advantage to divide these movements from each other. We are all familiar wiih the tactic and the consequences of the "divide and rule" strategy.

For women, then, an integration of the women's question with a total transformation of social relations becomes an absolute necessity. It is precisely these social relations that, in the long run, deny women their rights as humans. And these social relations in the countryside, for example, also constitute one of the forces whereby certain groups are excluded from certain types cf mobility. Within this complex web of social relations, sexual and marital norms are another way of keeping intact a hierarchy and division of labor that maintains the propertied classes. Both the landless and women, therefore, have a common interest in seeing these relations trans;%rmed.

Similarly, there exists a commonality of interests in the urban areas. It has been noted that women in the industrial working force are often used to bust strikes and to serve as a buffer against improvements in overall working conditions of their class as a whole. While ,ecognizing this, we must also be aware that these same women are often the poorest paid segment of the industrial proletariat. Here again an imaginative assimilation of women's issues and class issues would be of benefit not just to men and women as two genders but also to the working class as a whole. By engaging in struggles of this nature, women will bring their cause closer to others by organic links with them rather than posing the question of women's rights in terms of a moral choice or obligation.

And this brings us to 'jne final point: that of an autonomous women's organization struggling for women's rights. i would argue that it is essential that women retain an independent organization so that their cause does not become subservient to other issues. While maintaining their relative autonomy, however, women can and should enter into a principled alliance with other political groups and parties whose struggles are not in contradiction to them. By forming such an alliance, women can put the women's question on the agenda of other political formations.

Such an alliance is imperative if women are not to become isolated in their struggle. In today's Pakistan, women have had the support of an overwhelming number of men from all walks of life precisely because the -16­

latter see the women's struggle for restoration of their democratic as being rights organically linked to that of other elements in Pakistani including society, national minorities, s.ruggling for those same rights. The elements in the Pakistani women's movement that continue to support the necessity of maintaining a non-political posture must, at some point, realize the absurdity of this position. The demand for women's rights itself political. is And if it is to be acnieved, it will only be through political means. Women's struggle for equality will by no means be over with the demise of the current Pakistani regime. By joining with other democratic forces that are also posing an opposition to this regime, however, women will have created a certain measure of support that will carry over into the next phase of their struggle. The next phase will be an even more difficult one. Pakistani women must, therefore, be prepared for a long struggle. theoretical Their work and organizational preparation must enable them this movement to sustain into the future since, ultimately, a resolution demands deeply rooted cultural that norms and traditions be altered. This will be done not by shouting slogans or spouting rhetoric, but by careful planning, concrete examination by of the underpinnings of discrimination, and and intersection its links with other forms of deprivation and oppression, and tedious, arduous task by the of building links with those other groups and classes that are likewise negatively affected by the system of privilege, protection, and repression. -17-

NOTES

1. This paper was presented at the Twelfth Annual South Asian Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison, November 4-6, 1983. 2 This is not the place for a detailed discussion of the basic tenets of Islam and the location of women within it. For those interested in following up on this question, I would recommend Azar Tabari's article entitled "Islam and the Struggle for Emancipation of Iranian Women." 3. Much of the discussion that follows is based on work done by Gail Omvedt.

4. Although this regime has enjoyed considerable support in the past among the large landlords, there are indications that the imposition of Ushr might lead to antagonism toward the regime. Furthermore, there are elements within "his class that still support the Pakistan People's Party, being willing to cooperate with a regime that provides a minimal measure of reform while, at the same time, allowing them a critical role in the political realm.

5. This paper, being an overview of the women's question, does not permit a detailed analysis of the state. The state in Pakistan as it exists today is viewed by this author as a military-bureaucratic apparatus using fundamentalist religious elements both for ideological reasons and to provide the shock troops needed to control dissidents. The ideological cover is more for external than internal consumption, i.e., to satisfy the Saudis and other Middle Eastern rulers on whom this regime is dependent for financial support and continued labor export. The possibilitiEs referred to, therefore, take into account the weak hold the regime has over other groups that have traditionally collaborated with the state, e.g., the bourgeoisie which views this regime as being incapable of providing the kind of "law and order" it views as being conducive to a favorable investment climate. It is no coincidence that the regime's strongest support comes from the trading sector, the petty bourgeoisie, which has traditionally also been the class from which the fundamentalist religious groups have done the bulk of their recruiting. 6. Nizam e Mustafa refers to the law of the Prophet (Muhammad) which is today taken by many in Pakistan as the basis for a theocratic state.

7. Majlis e Shoora is the consultative body in Pakistan that today formulates its laws. There is no legislative body in Pakistan. The Majlis e Shoora is non-democratic in its selection and composition and the creation of the military, designed and created to rubber-stamp its policies. -18­

8. It should be noted that, although the Majlis e Shoora passed this last March, it law still has not been signed into effect by This is General Zia. in part a consequence of the strong mobilization against its passage. of women This has not, however, stopped courts from and sentencing women trying on its basis. Three -ases have been made whereby rape victims public were actually sentenced and subjected to flogging because no male witnesses could be brought forward to testify on their behalf and their own testimony was not permissible. One of these three women included a blind woman, who after being raped, was charged extra-marital relations. with This example of blaming the victim, particularly when the victim is a woman, is rampant in today's Islamic Pakistan. It is also interesting to note that the woman who was given the severest sentence out of the three came from the tribal areas; this indicates the even more oppressive conditions under which tribal women live.

9. Census data are used to justify this position. Government in Pakistan, as in statistics many other countries, provide a distorted picture womenis involvement of in the workforce, and consistently underestimate their economic contributions. Estimates for the rural sector in particular, conducted by women, show that women contribute from 12 per cent to 80 per cent of their households' incomes. This is in addition to their contribution is unpaid workers in their own households. 10. The dynamics of the state itself play an important role. dependent on The regime, the mullahs for ideological support, is sometimes to take a contradictory forced stand. Thus, we see the creation of a women's division on the federal level, headed by an outspoken opponent of the mullahs, conducting research on women's issues never before probed in Pakistan (partly because of funding by international bodies for such work) while, on the other hand, mullahs are given the freedom to openly preach a philosophy of hate against women. 11. This refers to the "veil and four walls," the notion that women's place is in the home, and when she steps out, she should not be visible but veiled.

12. Many of the Muslim women involved in the anti-colonial movement worked not independently among women but alongside family members, usually males. 13. Quaid e Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Aligarh University speech, 1944. 14. The position of these mullahs was that Islam did not recognize the existence of nations. The nation of Islam was, therefore, not a geographically located entity, bound in space, "ut a community of believers linked internationally through a spiritual unity. Interestingly, such an interpretation not only rules out a bourgeois, liLberal state such as emerged in early Pakistan, but also denies the rationale for a theocracy such as is now being supported by mullahs in Pakistan and Iran. -19­

15. The right to vote was generalized to all women, but their ability to run for office was curtailed by a system of quotas for women. This was designed, ostensibly, to ensure at least minimal representation. In reality it became the basis for denying women access to those seats contested in a general election. 16. It remains a moot point as to how far Bhutto's regime would actually have gone. There can be no doubt, however, that the environment much was more beneficial to women than it has been either previously or' subsequently.

17. The analogy with the Chilean situation is striking. Bhutto's reforms, though nowhere near the scope of those introduced in Allende's Chile, nevertheless served to jolt the bourgeois classes. Not only did these classes engage in a conscious policy of capital-flight overseas but many Pakistanis agree that they, along with element- of the petty bourgeoisie, deliberately conducted a policy of destabilization and to a large extent, contributed to the inflationary situation. It is ironic that after having instigated the situation, these classes then sought to use it as a weapon against the regime. 18. Even though women joined the left, the position of various left groups vis-a-vis women remains unclear. Although in most instances women's rights are acknowledged at a theoretical level, action at the personal and organizational levels leaves much to be desired. 19. The term "mass-base" is used advisedly but should be read with caution. It does not imply that women were immediately involved in this organization in large numbers and from all sectors of society; what it does suggest is that membership was open to women from all classes. There was no patron-client relation such as existed in APWA where upper class women were the providers, lower class women the recipients. 20. The groups that decided to come together under WAF's banner included the Tehrik e Niswan, APWA, Professional and Business aomen's Associations, and Tehrik E Jamhooriat Pasand Khawateen to name a few. The leadership of the new organization, h&.'ever, remained in the hands of independent feminists, unconnected to any of these organizations. Decisions were jointly arrived at through discussion and consultation. -20-

SELECT REFERENCES Abbasi, M.B. 1980 Socio-Economic Characteristics of Women in Sind: Issues Affecting Women's Status. Karachi: Sind Regional Plan Organization. "Ads and Women: Zafar Clarifies Government Stand," Dawn July 21, 1981. Ahmed, Tehmina 1982 "Dimensions of Suppression," Dawn May 21. "Al-Huda Case: Court Issues Notice to Begum Rahim," Star March 26, 1981. Amin, Nuzhat 1982 "Raising Consciousness Among Women," Star March 26. Anjuman Jamhooriat Pasand Khawateen n.d. Hum Autatain: Hamaray Haqooq, Hamaray Massaeil, Hamaray Matalabat. Karachi: Kasre Zeenat.

Anwar, Seemin and Faiz Bilquis n.d. The Attitudes, Environment and Activities of Rural Women. mimeo. "APWA Conference Urges Priority for Female Primary Education," Dawn, February 2, 1982. "Asian Hockey: Women's Team Won't Participate," Star, August 17, 1982. "At Work in City and in Village," Viewpoint, May 6, 1982. Aziz, Naila 1983 "APWA as a Pressure Group," Dawn, March 19. "Ban on Female Voice, Models, on Radio, TV: Women Bodies' Strong Protest, Star, n.d. "Begum Rahim's Strong Retort to Dr. Israr," Daily News, May 24, 1982. "Chador aur Char Davari," Muslim, May 23, 1982. "Charge Against Dr. Israr: He Sees Women as Sex Symbol," Daily News, March 18, 1982.

Chaudri, Rehana 1982 "Women and Media," Daily News, March 30. "Crime and Women," Star Magazine, July 23, 1981. "Dr. Israr and the Outraged Women," TheLeader, March 4, 1982. -21­

"Dr. Israr: Appeal by 10 Women's Organizations," Dawn, March 19, 1982.

"Dr. Israr Says Women Have No Vote," Star, May 25, 1982.

"Dr. Israr Speaks Again on Women's Rights," Daily News, March 30, 1982.

"Dr. Israr's Remarks: Women Take out Procession," Dawn, March 19, 1982. Gauhar, Khadijah 1982 "Women Fight the 'Badge of Slavery'," Star, Auqust 9. Hafeez, Sabiha 1981 "Development of Women's Organizations," Star, May 16.

Hafeez, Sabiha 1981 Metropolitan Women in Pakistan. Karachi: Royal Book Co.

Hisam, Zeenat 1982 "The New Feminist Movement in Pakistan," Dawn, Jan. 1.

Hussein, Maisoon 1981 "The Chaddor: Whose Decision Should it be?" Dawn, June 26.

"Injustice Towards Women," Dawn, April 8, 1981.

"Islamabad College Girls Defy 'Dupatta' Order," Star, May 17, 1982.

"Israr under fire," Muslim, March 18, 1982.

Khan, Kulsum Safiullah 1982 "Education and the Status of Women," Star, March 12. Khilji, Sami ul Haq 1982 "Women's Programmes in Baluchistan," Dawn, Feb. 20. Latif, Nargis 1981 "Women and Law in Pakistan," Dawn, Oct.5.

"Lyari women protest breakdowns," Star, July 15, 1981.

Mao, Mol ly 1976 Women's Organizations in Pakistan: A Preliminary Identification. Islamabad: Ford Foundation, mimeo.

Mirza, Anis 1982 "New Secretary of Women's Division Named," Dawn, May 19. Mirza, Anis 1982 "Shoora Ladies Meet Zia, Voice Demands,' Dawn, April 8. -22-

Mumtaz, Khawar 1982 "The Invisible Female Labor Force," The Pakistan Times, May 21. Mumtaz, Khawar and Fareeha Zafar 1982 "Women and Higher Education," Muslim, July 2. Mustafa, Zubeida 1981 "Women's University," Dawn, Nov. 2. "NDP Backs Women's Rights - Mazari," Dawn, March 21, 1982. "New Women's Division Secretary Speaks: Women Should Tell ts What They Want," Dawn, May 28, 1982. No Bar on Women: Only Obscenity to be Checked in Commercials," Star, July 22, 1982. "Pak Working Women's Ire Against Preacher," Muslim, April 5, 1982. Pe'&el, Rashida 1982 "Legal Status of Women in Pakistan," Dawn, March 19, 1982. "Professional Women's Club Condemns Israel's Atrocities," Dawn, July 3, 1982. "Provocative Statements: Call to Restrain Dr. Israr Ahmed," Dawn, May 25, 1982.

Rahman, Ghazala 1982 "WAF Dialogue on Education," Star, June 10. Sadeque, Najma 1982 "Challenging Times for Women: One Vote or Half? Full Witness or Less?" Dawn, June 18. Sadeque, Najma 1981 "What if the Family Laws Ordinance is repealed?," Dawn, Sept. 28. Sadiq, Najma, 1982 "Religious Blackmail: Who are the Moral Watchdogs of the Moral Watchdogs?," Star, March 18. Sadiq, Najma 1982 "Restitution of Conjugal Rights: Legalized Rape and Harassment?", Star, May 27, 1982 Shaheed, Farida n.d. Migration andits Effects on Women in the Villaes of Prevenance, islamabad: International Labor Organization, mimeo. -23-

Shaheed, Farida 1982 "The Myth of the Unproductive Pakistani Woman," Dawn, June 11. Sher, Ferida 1982 "60' Women Get Together," Star, May 27. Siddiqi, Nafis 1982 "Beware of Drive Against Women," Dawn, June 4. "Sindhi Women's Moot Ends: Feudal System of Society Slated," Dawn, April 10, 1982

Tabari, Azar and Nahid Yeganeh 1982 In The Shadow of Islam: The Women's Movement in Iran. London: Zed Press.

"WAF Demands Better Educational System," Star, June 10, 1982. "The WAF Invasion," Star, May 13, 1982.

"WAF Opposes Bus Fare Increase," Star, April 6, 1982. "WAF Resolutions," Muslim, July 8, 1982.

"Women and Human Rights," Dawn, April 29, 1982.

"Women Demand: Cancel Dr. Israr's TV Lecture," Star, n.d. "Women in City Launch Signature Drive," Dawn, March 21, 1982. "Women's Socio-economic Conditions: WAF Demands Full Probe," Star May 30, 1982.

"Women Themselves can Solve Worien's Problems," Dawn, April 9, 1981.

"Women Writers Join Protest," Star, March 21, 1982. "Women's Action Forum Against Government Ban on Foreign Tours," Dawn, April 23, 1932.

Women's Action Forum 1982 "Stand On The Law Of Evidence," December, mimeo. Women's Action Forum 1982 "Summary of Panel Discussion or, the Proposal to Establish a Women's University in Pakistan," Rawalpindi/Islamabad: May 29, mimeo.

"Women's University," Morning News, Oct. 4, 1981. -24­

"Women's University Plan Shelved: Shortage of Funds Alleged," Star, June 29, 1982.

"Women University Soon", Daily News, July 16, 1981.

"Women's Varsities by October," Star, August 17, 1982. "Women's Varsities: First Draft Before Majlis e Shoora Soon," Star, May 8, 1982. "Women's Welfare Council Maybe Set Up in Punjab," Dawn, Dec. 31, 1981. "Working Women to be Retired, Given Pension: Dr. Israr Ahmed," Daily News, March 13, 1982. "Working Women Can't be Sent Home says Zia," Dawn, March 22, 1982. "Writers Debunk Dr. Israr's Views," Star, April 28, 1982. "Young Couple to be Whipped in Public," Star, April 17, 1982. "Young Woman Shot Dead," Star, October 4, 1982. Zaman, Aquila 1981 "An Affront to Women," Star, July 13. Zubair, Ovais 1981 "Joint Family System," Star, July 10. PUBLICATIONS OFFICE OF WOMEN ININTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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